D.C. Report: Mostashari Says, 'Now Is Not the Right Time' For NwHIN Governance

Health IT Policy Committee Gets MU Stage 2 Briefing, Learns of Decision to Pause Nationwide Exchange Governance Plans During the 40th meeting of the Health IT Policy Committee held in Washington this week, members were given an overview of Meaningful Use Stage 2 by officials from CMS and ONC.  And in the waning hours of the day-long meeting, Dr. Farzad Mostashari revealed that ONC has decided to put plans for further regulation of the Nationwide Health Information Exchange (NwHIN) on hold.  In opening remarks made Thursday, Dr. Mostashari called the MU Stage 2 regs, “predictable” and joked this made for bland news headlines.  He reiterated his commitment to seeing “actual exchange” and his agency’s belief that patient-dependent measures, like the 5 percent thresholds in measures related to patient portal use and secure messaging, was the right thing to do.  Committee members were then briefed on Stage 2 rules, followed by presentations on the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) and its application to the healthcare world.